The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-11-06
WHEN LETTERS 60 lsTRAK:
TIE Duty which Falls 70 the Inspeotsr'
Department 81 the Pest OAce.

II any man In this State fails to receive q
letter whom 1t Is due or II he sends letter that
is not delivered promptly. he can get full ex-
PLANTATION OF the delay By sending his COM
plant to any one Of the officials in the Post
ONCE building. His letter will be opened and
read By tho person to whom It Is addressed,
and then it will DO sent to tho inspectors de-
partment, whore 1t will set In motion at least
one carefully trained detective. who will agi-
tate the subject until everybody is satisfied or
until somebody Is removed for inef1iciency.
Tho whole cause Of tho trouble may DO letter
Of NO importance whatever. It may be one OF
ordinary lovers typo. or . business man's OK
cuss to his wife for not arriving In town at q
certain time. or bill that nobody wants. but
the two-cent stamp In the cornor Is Uncle
Sans pledge that 1t will be delivered.
There arc In this State 5000 Post Offices. and
every man connected with them Is made to
walk o particularly straight limo BY . quiet
and unassuming gentleman. who sits In front
Of little desk all day In little room on the
fourth story Of the big Post Office building.
This gentleman is Charles E. Dosser. and he is
tho inspector In charge OF the postal system
In this state. During last month be received
over 1000 complaints from IS many different
persons. Some Of these charge neglect in tho
handling of mail. some "unaccountable delay"
some incivility on the part OF employees. and Q
few thought. there was some dishonest person
The first thing done with complaint is to care
fully make an entry OF Its character. and thon
heads. II the Complaint n charges loss Of reg
matter or any In Its de-
ordinary matter ls a "B," case.
.'Ch case e any trouble with the lease Of q
axaSst q
that the mall is being used for forwarding any
fraudulent or obscene matter.
believe that It has, been stolen. the investiea.
sna ep
The investigation begins in the Post Office in
which the letter vas mailed. Then the exact
journey is learned By discovering from the
sender The tine was mailed ,ha ahs oa, f
ss q @ duty IL the that
time are questioned until the particular man "a,
xao r nsnd ssn. the BAG a weh s
ssais and e Sss
about it. the carrier who should huve delivered
II is questioned next. II sometimes happens
mad 81
or BY some member Of his household. II the
fault is that OF an employee. the latter very
Of investigation goes nlerrily on until the In
spectors are sure other that the matter can
not be cleared up or that the Post Office sys-
II Inc complaint charges the loss OF money or
any valuable article the utmost secrecy, Is OBJ:
from Kingston TO this city the inspector goes
sent 1t. He learns from HIM the exact time the
s city WITH the s s
and Discovers Just what tour OF men were ON
d, ss WcsfuT roS sss
apsl q Having learned the tour: he makes
m.s IN IL His suspicions fall upon one man.
and then care must be taken that hat this person
WORKS ali around him, but never approaches
him He watches him day and might. and dogs
bis footsteps until he Is sure that the men Is
former. tho man 10 soon prisoner; II OF the
the man s ,S Ssd aas
naess aIa IL ef inc 10
A short time ago a large business house in
this city eompaiped that portion. Of their
EatinE this case was begun al the store OF the
hrm. because the letters that had been lost
e. snn R Saa s. b The es stss
and an employee OF the firm used to unlock the
box and carry the mail to the office. The man ma!
many letters arrived for this Arm each day, and
tho firm was asked TO Keep all the envelopes ana
return them to the office OF the inspector. Tho
numbers did not tally. and watch was set
upon the carrier The moment he was out Of
sight after dropping tho letters into the box
tho box was opened. and after the letters wsro
counted they wero returned to the box. The
letters delivered to the firm by their employee
did not agree with this number either and tho
firm said that they were-satsfled tho fault was
NOT with the Post Office authorities. and that
they would look after the thief themselves;
novelty Arm In Connecticut complained
that they were losing triling sums OF money
that were sent them from this city for samples
OF their goods. Dozens OF letters kept going
sstray, and. as the number seemed to be In
creasin9, an earnest effort was made to dis
cover the guilty persona After several days OF
hard work the thieves were discovered in what
ia known as the Pouch Room" This Is whore
the letters are placed In tho big bags for trans
mission to their destination.
that was cleared up last week. Tho thief
said that no was caught Just as he
mud made up his mind to stop stealing.
"rhis Is said by nearly everybody who Ia
caught" sud Mr.. Dosser; !" There are fve In
spsctors In this State. and tho work. OF clearing
up com plants Ii only u fragment OF what they
have TO do. They have to visit all the Post
Ohicos In the State inspect the accounts OF
each and see that everything IA In straight
working order The men under me arc for the
most part experienced detectives. IL need
the services OF man who is not known TO any
man In this office send on TO washington. and
n man In ordered to come hero ana assist me.